What the Mission Means

via TJC

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. - Ephesians 1:18-21

During World War II, the Allies were desperate to minimize bomber losses. Several teams worked on improving our planes. When bombers returned to base, the Air Force collected data regarding the places where the bombers were shot. Here is a diagram: 

Several teams debated where to reinforce the bombers. The stakes were so high. Some advocated for re-design of the wings. Others debated reinforcing the tail or making the plane more agile. However, the study that was eventually accepted came from the Statistical Research Group at Columbia University. 

What they said was: 

“Don’t count the places where bullets hit. Count the places where bullets didn’t hit, because the planes that were hit in those places suffered fatality and did not come back.”

1. We are at war, and here I was treating the wounds that I could see. 

2. Yet, the war is happening all around me, and it involves a thief that “cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy”. Thieves don’t advertise their presence. 

1. I needed new eyes. I needed to weaponize the technology that God built into me. I needed to train the Lord’s spirituality into muscle-memory so that when the “when the day of evil comes” I would be able to stand my ground -  the ground that the Lord gave me by giving me Life. 

The wounds and the war that I couldn’t see - that I didn’t want to see - that I had set up various coping mechanisms to avoid – these are the places where I now train. How to engage that training is what the Mission of The Joshua Commission means to me. 

Daily Battle Order:

Agree that seen and unseen forces of life and death are acting all around us. Accept that the Kingdom is at war and there are strategies concerning you - one is good and the other is evil. Ask for the eyes of the heart. Claim the protection of Jesus Christ.